Andy's Choice Award

The Nods

Last year, when I chose a game for this award, I was so torn between
two games that I was forced to give one mention, a "nod"
as it were. This year, after a few weeks of going through all the
games I recognized (and man, there were a boatload of excellent games
that came out last year), I came down to three games, so this year
we'll see two nods. After seeing the excellent flood of games coming
out in 2004, I suspect I'll have dozen nods next year:

Nod: Barbarians of Lemuria by Simon Washbourne

I would have missed this game had I not read the Coming of Conan collection
this year, being exposed to wonderful pulp fantasy novella. While
I am unfamiliar with the Lemuria stories, this game succinctly captures
the feel of pulp fantasy in rules that are both simple and familiar
(Hit Points, Attributes) and at the same time innovative in a way
that really reflects the source material- That is giving out "Classes"
like candy, and making them active in almost every die roll that the
player makes. This game is excellently produced in a free PDF, with
easy-to-understand explanations and rules descriptions that will have
you playing in minutes, depending on how fast you can read. A great
game that has mileage both as a "one shot" game or a longer
"campaign-based" game.

Nod: WUSHU by Daniel Bayn

So very close to a perfect cinematic game. For $5, you get a game
that completely and utterly mimics the feel of high action Wuxia movies,
and on top of that is playable 'right out of the box'. Between the
concise and elegant mook rules, to the way that every action is easier
to perform the more complicated or involved it is described, it's
a real work of art. The core PDF rules are a little hindered by lack
of examples, oragnization, and rules clarifications, but if this game
is ever revised and edited it would be one killer of a game. It really
made me take a second look at action in gaming, including how I run
action scenes in my regular games. That, plus it's imminent playability
make it a great buy for anyone who digs elegant action scenes in movies
and other media.

Andy's Choice for 2003:

FATE by Fred Hicks & Rob Donoghue

FATE is one of the rarest finds for me in the RPG world: A generic
game system that doesn't make me think "Well, why not just use
X instead?" Physically, it is a downloadable Free PDF, but the
art, layout, quality of writing, rules explanations and production
value put most print games to shame. Rulewise, it's a slick, easy
to learn game that has tons of options for character generation or
play, but is also completely customizable. It was originally built
using the tools provided by the Fudge RPG, but completely surpasses
basic Fudge in playability and elegance of design. I'm one who can
just wax poetic about games forever, so here's a hard list of virtues.

* It's easily adaptable to about any genre of play without special
rules or fiddly bits. I ran an over-the-top "Chronicles of Riddick"
game back to back with a "Call of Cthulhu" style low-power
suspense/horror game without changing any of the background rules.

* It puts elements of your character like Moral Code, Beliefs, Background
Elements, and other character bits, the parts that are normally lumped
in the "My Character's Background" paragraph that the GM
never reads, Right At The Top of the character sheet. It gives them
scores, and makes them about as important as abilities or skills.

* On top of that, character generation for people who've never played
the game takes about five minutes, no rulebook consultation on what
abilities do what. Many small games can boast this claim, but few
will have you with a character sheet that looks comperable to a GURPS
or d20 character.

* The core of the game is a simple die-rolling system, but it's not
just another "froo froo rules-lite game". The rules feel
light (FATE is certainly an easy read), but they're also complete.
There's no missing parts.

* It is a complete RPG, well written, with play examples that will
have you understanding the inner works of the game system on the first
read.

* Dramatic conflict is scalable from "one roll wins all"
to "traditional combat/action rounds". The scale is smooth
and easy to understand, and there are several examples of each stlye
of conflict so you're not left wondering how it may look until you
try it yourself. The benefits and drawbacks of each are explained
clearly.

* It's built upon the exellent (if a little unorganized) Fudge system,
but carries it to a new level.

* The FATE community is extremely responsive, and there's tons of
free stuff and web tools to be found for this game.

In the end, I can hardly believe that this game is a free download,
especially given the quality of the layout. Some months ago I downloaded
the PDF, printed it on my local printer, punched it and threw it into
a three-ring, and have played it more times than I can easily remember.
I would have easily paid $40 for this game as-is, for the amount of
play I got out of it.